GreatVision Song Contest 9
North Korea |presenters = TBA |exsupervisor = |host = |opening = |interval = | entries = 49 | debut = Kosovo Macedonia | return = Gibraltar Kazakhstan Lithuania Luxembourg Switzerland San Marino Taiwan | withdraw = Armenia Austria China Faroe Islands Fiji Hungary Iceland Latvia Liechtenstein Malaysia Malta Portugal Romania | disqualified = | disqualified = | map year = GV9 | col1 = #782167 | tag1 = Confirmed participant | col2 = #22b14c | tag2 = Confirmed participant that have their artist or song | col3 = #FFD700 | tag3 = Past participant that will not participate | vote = Each country awards two sets of 12, 10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. |null = | winner = |nex = |pre = }} GreatVision Song Contest 9, often referred to as GVSC 9, will be the ninth edition of the GreatVision Song Contest. The contest will be hosted in North Korea, after Sunmi won the eight edition with "Heroine". KCTV chose the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang to serve as the host venue for the edition. Location : For further information see North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Officially, its territory consists of the whole Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands. Pyongyang is the nation's capital and largest city. To the north and northwest, the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok (known as the Yalu in China) and Tumen rivers; it is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two. Nevertheless, North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula. In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan. After the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was divided into two zones, with the north occupied by the Soviets and the south occupied by the Americans. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948, separate governments were formed: the socialist Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north, and the capitalist Republic of Korea in the south. An invasion initiated by North Korea led to the Korean War (1950–1953). The Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire, but no peace treaty was signed. North Korea officially describes itself as a self-reliant, socialist state and formally holds elections. Various media outlets have called it Stalinist, particularly noting the elaborate cult of personality around Kim Il-sung and his family. The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), led by a member of the ruling family, holds power in the state and leads the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland of which all political officers are required to be members. Juche, an ideology of national self-reliance, was introduced into the constitution in 1972. The means of production are owned by the state through state-run enterprises and collectivized farms. Most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production are subsidized or state-funded. From 1994 to 1998, North Korea suffered a famine that resulted in the deaths of between 240,000 and 420,000 people, and the country continues to struggle with food production. A sizeable amount of the population is thought to suffer from malnutrition, parasite infestations and food and waterborne diseases. North Korea follows Songun, or "military-first" policy. It is the country with the highest number of military and paramilitary personnel, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million is the fourth largest in the world, after China, the United States and India. It possesses nuclear weapons. North Korea is an atheist state with no official religion, and public religion is discouraged or persecuted. Both North Korea and South Korea became members of the United Nations in 1991. International organizations have assessed that human rights violations in North Korea have no parallel in the contemporary world. North Korea operates re-education and prison camps, akin to the gulag prisons of the Soviet Union. The concentration camps are used to segregate those seen as enemies of the state and punish them for alleged political misdemeanours or alleged misdemeanours of relatives as part of the "3 generations of punishment" policy instigated by state founder Kim Il-sung. Prisoners are frequently subject to slave labour, malnutrition, torture, human experimentation, rape, and arbitrary executions. Host City : For further information see Pyongyang Pyongyang is the capital and largest city of North Korea. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about 109 kilometres (68 mi) upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,288.7 The city was split from the South Pyongan province in 1946. It is administered as a directly governed city (chikhalsi, 직할시) on the same level as provincial governments, as opposed to special cities of South Korea (teukbyeolsi, 특별시) such as Seoul. Venue : For further information see Rungrado 1st of May Stadium The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, also known as the May Day Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, completed on 1 May 1989. Its first major event was the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students. It is the largest stadium in the world, with a total capacity of 114,000. The site occupies an area of 20.7 hectares (51 acres). It is not to be confused with the nearby 50,000 capacity Kim Il-sung Stadium. Bidding phase A few days after their announcement of hosting the contest, KCTV announced that there will be no Bidding phase in this edition. But the GBU has set some Rules for the Venue. Those were the following: * The Green Room should be located in the arena or as near it as possible, with a capacity of 300. * An additional room at least 6,000 square metres (65,000 sq ft) in area, to house 2 catering stands, a viewing room, make-up rooms, wardrobe, and booths for approximately 50 commentators. * Separate offices to house the press centre, open between end of August 2016 and mid/end September 2016, at least (43,000 sq ft) in area, with a capacity of at least 1,500 journalists. Key Host venue Format The GBU has decided that in the upcoming edition there will be most likely 2 Semi-finals. In each semi-final 10 countries will qualify for the Grand Final to make a line-up of 26 competing countries (20 Semi-Final qualifers + Big 6). Voting The GBU has announced that the voting system would be each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Televoting votes from all countries are pooled. After viewers have cast their votes, the results of each professional jury are presented. After the results of the professional juries are presented, the televoting points from all participating countries are combined, providing one score for each song. The results of countries finishing between 11th and 26th in the public vote are automatically added to the scoreboard, with only the results of the top ten countries being announced by the hosts. The new voting system is also used to determine the qualifiers from each semi-final, but as before the qualifiers are announced in a random order. Semi Final allocation draw Running order The Running order of both Semi-finals will be official announced by KCTV in March 2018, shortly before the semi-finals start. The Running order for Grand Final will be official announced, one day before the Grand Final will start. Participating countries Fourty-nine countries have confirmed their participation in the ninth edition. This includes Kazakhstan and Switzerland which returned after being absent since the fifth edition, as well Taiwan returned after there three-edition absence. Also Gibraltar, Lithuania, Luxembourg and San Marino returned to the contest after their one-edition absence. Kosovo and Macedonia will make his debut appearance in this edition. thirteen countries, however, announced their withdrawal from the contest. Faroe Islands, Fiji, Liechtenstein and Malaysia all announced their withdrawal citing their Head of Delegation change as the reason, while Armenia's, Hungary's, Malta's and Portugal's Head of Delegation had no longer interest or time to participate in the contest. Furthermore Austria, China, Iceland, Latvia and Romania all was forced to withdraw as they failed to confirm within the deadline. The confirmation period for the ninth edition opened on the 20th February 2018. The contest will start most likely in Late March 2018. Returning artists Kygo was internally selected to represent Norway for the second time; he previously represented the country in the sixth edition; together with Bonnie Mckee; she previously represented the United States in the first edition. Results Semi-Final Participants The following countries have expressed their provisional interest in participating in the contest. Final Participants Other countries : Further information: List of able countries in GreatVision Song Contest Countries that are active members of the GreatVision Broadcasting Union (GBU) are also eligible to participate in the GreatVision Song Contest. As in every edition, an invitation to all the members have been sent in order to confirm whether they will participate or not. The following list of countries declined stating their reasons as shown below. * Armenia: AMPTV on the 2nd March 2018 the HoD announced the first withdrawl of the country since their debut. A return in the tenth edition was not ruled out. * Austria: ORF did not reveal any statements about a participation so far. After the non-voting in the Final of last edition, it seems likely that Austria would not participate again. However, after missing out the confirmation deadline, the country was forced to withdraw. * China: SMG did not reveal any statements about a participation so far. However, after missing out the confirmation deadline, the country was forced to withdraw. * Faroe Islands: KVF the HoD announced the withdrawl of the country, However no reason was given. The Hod quit his position and changed his country for Macedonia. A return with new HoD is possible. * Fiji: FBC on the 4th February 2018 the HoD announced the withdrawl of the country, due non-qualifications in the past editions. The Hod quit his position and changed his country for Vietnam. A return with new HoD is possible. * Hungary: MTVA on the 2nd March 2018 the HoD announced the withdrawl of the country, due personla reasons. The Hod quit his position. A return with new HoD is possible. * Iceland: RÚV did not reveal any statements about a participation so far. However, after missing out the confirmation deadline, the country was forced to withdraw. * Latvia: LTV did not reveal any statements about a participation so far. However, after missing out the confirmation deadline, the country was forced to withdraw. * Liechtenstein: 1FLTV on the 26th February 2018 the HoD announced the withdrawl of the country, due non-qualifications in the past edition. The Hod quit his position and changed his country for Luxembourg. A return with new HoD is possible. * Malaysia: MTP on the 1st March 2018 the HoD announced the withdrawl of the country, due non-qualifications in the past edition. The Hod quit his position and changed his country for Kosovo. A return with new HoD is possible. * Malta: PBS on the 26th February 2018 the HoD announced the withdrawl of the country, due non-qualifications in the past editions. The Hod quit his position, becasue he had no more time to participate in the contest. A return in the future was not ruled out. * Portugal: RTP The HoD of Portugal leave the community without giving any reasons. Portugal is forced to withdraw from the competition. A return with new HoD is possible. * Romania: TVR did not reveal any statements about a participation so far. However, after missing out the confirmation deadline, the country was forced to withdraw.